If you can believe the NBA rumor mill, the Phoenix Suns have apparently jammed a “Yard Sale” sign in front of Amare Stoudemire’s locker. It seems that Suns GM Steve Kerr has finally realized that, despite Amare’s wicked-awesome talent and immense athleticism, he’s still a big man without a post move who couldn’t protect the paint (short of the occasional high-flying swat) if his team’s playoff chances and a $100 million contract extension were on the line. (And they are.)

Huh. An athletic power forward who can’t defend at his position (or at center) and would rather shoot face-up jumpers than execute a move in the low post? We already have that guy. His name is Tyrus Thomas. Look, Amare may be an All-Star — who despite intense lobbying via an Internet marketing campaign barely beat out Bruce Bowen for a starting spot on the Western Conference squad, by the way — but he’s basically an older and much more expensive version of a player the Bulls already have on their roster. And then there’s that whole “his knee was reconstructed through microfracture surgery” thing. I know he’s become something of a poster boy for recovery from that particular procedure, but still…it certainly isn’t going to extend his career.

But let’s forget for a second whether it’s a good move and ask the more immediate question: Could it happen? The Suns want three things in return for Stoudemire: A salary dump, promising young talent (since they don’t have any of their own) and some draft picks. As it happens, Chicago can offer all that. The Bulls have almost $9 million worth of expiring contracts in Drew Gooden (who isn’t even playing) and Cedric Simmons (ditto). Joakim Noah and Thomas (and maybe even Thabo Sefolosha) are the young and talented. And John Paxson could probably be convinced to toss in some draft picks (lottery-protected, of course).

So yes, it could happen. But it really, really shouldn’t. If, you know, Pax wants to actually improve the team. Stoudemire is a random numbers generator, no doubt about it, but he’s not the answer to any of Chicago’s most pressing concerns. The Bulls need a stopper in the paint. Amare can’t (or won’t) do that. They also need somebody who can score with his back to the basket. Amare won’t (or can’t) do that either. He also tends to sulk and stop rebounding when he’s not the number one option on offense. Sounds like a lose-lose-lose proposition to me.

Then there’s the little problem of keeping him around even if we can trade for him. Stoudemire’s contract includes a clause that would allow him to opt out after next season. You’d better believe that he’s going to do it…and then ask for a huge raise. He’ll no doubt be seeking one of those max-outs that go for about six years and over $100 million. That’s what I like to call a cap killer over at Basketbawful. Imagine watching him average 16 points and 7 rebounds after Pax decided to pay him $20 million per  year. Wouldn’t that make you want to drink until you couldn’t feel feelings anymore?

Look, in the summer of 2006, Paxson signed Ben Wallace to a $60 million contract that wrecked the team’s salary flexibility and eventually forced a trade for Larry Hughes. In doing so, he gave up on (and subsequently traded away) Tyson Chandler, even though Tyson was younger and could do pretty much everything Big Ben could do…and for less money.  Now, Tyson is an All-Star-caliber center (when healthy) and Wallace has one foot in his NBA grave. As blunders go, that was big. Paxson now stands to make the same mistake by potentially dealing Thomas — whom the Suns would almost certainly demand in any trade for Stoudemire — plus other valuable team commodities. Here’s hoping John learned his lesson.

On the other hand, if the Suns are interested in Larry Hughes…

The post Memo to Pax: Just say “No” to Amare appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.

Matt Becker of the Associated Press: “The Chicago Bulls haven’t won in Sacramento since Michael Jordan led them to their sixth NBA title. With the way the Kings are playing right now, Chicago may have its best opportunity to end that slide. After snapping their longest losing streak of the season their last time out, the Bulls look for their first victory in Sacramento in 11 years Friday when they visit the lowly Kings.”

John Jackson of the Chicago Sun-Times: “No player ever wants to miss an extended stretch because of injury, but sometimes sitting and watching can help a struggling player find a groove. That appears to have happened in the case of Bulls forward Luol Deng, who sat out eight games with a sprained left ankle and and has emerged from his early-season funk since returning to action 2½ weeks ago. ‘I think it did help,’ Deng said Thursday of his time on the shelf. ‘I think it was just the time period, having a new system, new coaches, a new style and everything. I think it took me a while, it took me longer than I thought.'”

K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune: “As the Bulls play their next-to-last game of the month, [Luol] Deng will attempt to continue the pace he has set in the nine games since he returned from a sprained left ankle. In January, Deng leads the Bulls with 17.2 points, 8.6 rebounds and, perhaps most tellingly, 1.89 steals per game. He also is shooting 50 percent this month. ‘I’m better when I’m moving without the ball and the ball is moving,’ Deng said. ‘I don’t like taking shots out of rhythm. And sometimes when we take quick shots, it affects the way I’m playing.'”

Mike McGraw of the Daily Herald: “Team captain Kirk Hinrich surveyed the scene as the noisy workout ended and the players began shooting free throws. ‘We had a good practice today,’ he said. ‘Our practice habits have gotten better the last few weeks.’ Coach Vinny Del Negro mentioned the same thing recently. Asked why that happened, Hinrich suggested a few different reasons. ‘I think coach just told us, we need to have better practice sessions,’ Hinrich said. ‘I think you have to come out here and compete. Obviously, there are days you rest your legs. But when we come in here, compete and work on what we’re trying to do offensively and defensively. It’s been good when we’ve done that.'”

More Mike McGraw from the Daily Herald: “Early this season, Rose’s jumper to be seemed much better than advertised. He rarely missed when he pulled up off the dribble. But the jumper took a vacation the last three weeks or so. He’d knock one down every once in awhile, just not with any regularity until it reappeared at the Staples Center. Asked after the game if he felt like he was in a shooting slump, Rose basically agreed. ‘I didn’t think about it,’ he said. ‘But just thinking about it now (after the question), I was missing for a while. Tonight it was just clicking.’

Steve Rosenbloom of the Chicago Tribune: “Let me get this right: The general manager of the Phoenix Suns had a coaching opening last summer and he had Vinny Del Negro under contract and he said Del Negro is ‘a really bright guy. Very smart and very hard-working” — and the general manager of the Phoenix Suns gave the job to someone else. Why? Because Del Negro has never coached at any level and, Phoenix general manager Steve Kerr says, Del Negro is ‘going through what everybody has to go through at the beginning of their career.” Yeah, and Kerr made sure that the Suns wouldn’t go through it the way Chicago is. What the Bulls did to their fans just gets more insulting.”

The post Fresh ink: January 30, 2009 appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.

John Jackson of the Chicago Sun-Times: “As hard as it might be to believe, the Bulls actually found an opponent struggling more than them. And this time, they took advantage of the soft spot in the schedule to snap a five-game losing streak with a 95-75 rout of the Los Angeles Clippers Wednesday night at Staples Center. That’s not a misprint. The 20-point margin of victory is the Bulls’ biggest of season. ‘We haven’t had a blowout win or a decent lead in a while,’ rookie point guard Derrick Rose said. ‘It feels good just to put it together like that.'”

Lisa Dillman of the Los Angeles Times: “Behind door No. 1: Baron Davis. And there was a surprise guest behind door No. 2: Marcus Camby. Despite those seemingly uplifting developments, the door slammed shut on the Clippers once again with the Bulls manhandling them, 95-75, on Wednesday night at Staples Center. Hitting the snooze button in the third quarter — letting the Bulls go on a 20-6 run — was their undoing. Clippers Coach Mike Dunleavy said his team ‘laid an egg’ in the third quarter. That’s been a second-half trend, of late. It was the Clippers 17th loss in their last 19 games and third straight after Friday’s win against Oklahoma City. They are 10-35.”

John Nadel of the Associated Press: “By beating the Clippers for the third straight time, after losing 13 of the previous 15 games between the teams, the Bulls avoided their longest losing streak since early in the 2006-07 season. Chicago has won six of its last 19 games.”

Mike McGraw of the Daily Herald: “This was the Bulls’ first blowout win since they beat Phoenix by 17 on Nov. 7. With the game well out of reach in the fourth quarter, guard Lindsey Hunter saw his first game action since Jan. 10, but guard Larry Hughes stayed on the bench throughout. Hughes hasn’t played since Jan. 12 and his agent has been given permission to try to facilitate a trade. But Hughes said before the game he’s ready to take the court. ‘If they call my name, I’m going to play,’ he said. ‘I haven’t shut down. There’s still a lot of season left. Mentally, I’m in it. I continue to work out. The only thing I’m not doing right now is playing in the games.'”

K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune: “On the day he learned he would play in the Rookie Challenge and that his jersey ranks as the ninth-highest seller in the league, Derrick Rose also confirmed he would participate in the skills challenge as part of NBA All-Star weekend. ‘I’ve put a lot of thought into it and I’m going to do it,’ Rose said after the Bulls’ shootaround at a local health club. ‘This could be a once-in-a-lifetime thing.’ That thought is doubtful, but representative of the genuine humility of Rose, whose next appearance at All-Star weekend could be as part of the big-boys game.”

Fred Mitchell of the Chicago Tribune: “Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro worked for Steve Kerr with the Phoenix Suns, and Kerr believes his former assistant GM has what it takes to survive the team’s recent struggles. ‘Vinny is a really bright guy. Very smart and hard-working,’ Kerr said Wednesday from Phoenix. ‘He’s good with people.’ The Bulls entered Wednesday night’s Clippers game with a five-game losing streak. Being an NBA coach ‘is a very difficult job, unbelievably difficult,’ Kerr said. ‘Even more so when you are new at it and you don’t have [head-coaching] experience. He’s going through what everybody has to go through at the beginning of their career. It’s not easy.'”

The post Fresh ink: January 29, 2009 appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.